Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS)

24/09/2025

29/11/2023

We have some thrilling MEMS news!
Please welcome our new director, Dr Suzanna Ivanic (from University of Kent - School of History )! 🥳

Suzanna will be at the helm of our ship for the next 3 years, taking up the baton from Dr Rory Loughnane (from University of Kent - School of English ) who has taken MEMS to exciting waters.

We would like to thank Rory who has brought so much energy and passion to MEMS, and has helped us forge new relationships across Europe. We would also like to thank his co-director Dr David Rundle who has also been a huge support to the community.

Suzanna will also be accompanied by Dr Clare Wright, as our MA Co-ordinator. A winning team!

We look forward to seeing the wonderful Dr Suzanna Ivanic at work, wishing her all the best for the coming few years. We know she will do brilliantly.

Read more about Suzanna and our change of directors on our blog!

https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/memsnews/2023/11/24/mems-welcomes-new-director-dr-suzanna-ivanic/

29/11/2023

Newly acquired and available to read in our Search Room!

Common Land in Britain: A History from the Middle Ages to the Present Day by Prof. Angus J. L. Wi******er, 2022

'More than a million hectares of Britain has the status of common land, most of it consisting of semi-natural environments of mountain, moorland, wetland or heath. Formerly much more extensive, common land was, and in many places remains, an integral part of the pastoral economy. Even where it is no longer used by farmers, it plays an increasingly important role in modern life, as recreational space and for its value for nature conservation.

This book provides for the first time an authoritative survey of the history of common land across all three nations of Great Britain from medieval times to the present day. It charts how commons have been viewed and valued across centuries, how they have been used, and how their vegetation has changed, highlighting parallels and differences between the histories of common land in England, Scotland and Wales.'

🔎 To view, request ref. BK/C334850548

Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS) | Boydell Brewer | Explore Your Archive

20/11/2023

Our beloved colleagues down the hill at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK are inviting us for a lecture tomorrow. All are welcome to join, further details below:

In 1561, the town of Sandwich in Kent petitioned the Privy Council to allow a significant influx of immigrants to settle in their town, and practice their skills working with 'says, bay and other clothe'-a model that was to spread across the south-east of England. Within six years, immigrants in Sandwich outnumbered the previous inhabitants, provoking a predictable backlash. While this immigration is often claimed as a masterstroke of state policy to introduce artisanal skills lacking in England, this paper explores it as a multi-faceted experiment, of importance not only to trade, but also to social relations, religion, education, and the period's literature.

Alan Stewart is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, and currently a Visiting Lecturer at Queen Mary, where he received his PhD, held a British Academy postdoc, and helped to found the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters with Lisa Jardine. He is the author of several books including, most recently, The Oxford History of Life-Writing, volume 2, Early Modern (2018). He is also Director of the Oxford Francis Bacon, for which he has edited volume 1, Early Writings, 1584-1596, and is now editing volume 2, Late Elizabethan Writings, 1596-1602.

This is a FREE lecture; booking is not necessary, and our friends shall look forward to welcoming you to what promises to be a fascinating talk.

16/11/2023

Are you passionate about the , , and/or periods? Would you like to pursue a degree that would give you the tools to work with pre-modern material & textual cultures?

Come meet us at our Open Event online today at 6PM GMT/1PM EST!
👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ma-in-medieval-and-early-modern-studies-open-event-university-of-kent-tickets-749376664777

14/11/2023

Have you checked out ‘Mysteries of the Faith’ on Netflix yet? You definitely should! For in that docu-series the amazing Dr Emily Guerry (an icon at MEMS) tells us about the journey of the Crown of Thorns, a relic that found its way across the Mediterranean sea to the Sainte-Chapelle de Paris.

Dr Guerry, in our latest blogpost, shares with us: "It was such fun being on TV again (and while pregnant), and I felt very supported by the October Films / Netflix crew throughout the experience. It was especially exciting to see my research illustrated so beautifully on screen (and translated into dozens of languages too)."

You can read more about Emily’s experience with Netflix via the following link: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/memsnews/2023/11/14/mems-art-historian-on-tv-again/

13/11/2023

We have a secret to share with you! 🤫

We are thrilled to have our wonderful colleague Dr Anne Alwis from Kentiquity: Classics & Archaeology at Kent share her latest research with us this Thursday.

Join us for 📜 Secret Sanctity: Deciphering concealment, disguise, and hidden knowledge in Late-Antique and Byzantine Hagiography 📜
📅 Thurs 16th Nov, 1pm GMT
📍 Room tbc and online
Zoom link: linktr.ee/MEMS_UniKent

More information on our seminar programme:
https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/memsnews/calendar-of-events/

Abstract:

Secret Sanctity was instrumental in attaining sainthood in Late Antiquity and Byzantium, facilitating the growth of Christianity, and helping devotees construct an identity. In the modern imagination, ‘byzantine’ often negatively equates to conspiracy, treacherous secrecy, and complexity. Conversely, Dr Alwis redefine secrecy as a positive force. Ideas that secrecy defined holiness pervaded early Christianity, proliferating in hagiography (stories of saints, and edifying narratives), the period’s most popular genre. By analysing an array of texts spanning eight centuries in Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Coptic, this paper will show how secrecy is a tool for power, and faith itself dependent on hidden knowledge, disguise, and concealment. Secrecy also creates an interior invisible to outsiders, generating space for self-expression. The paper will begin to trace new perspectives on early Christian selfhood and society, illuminates how secrecy inspired and sustained conviction in believers, and rewrites prevalent opinions on Byzantium.

10/11/2023

Here are the four 17th-century versions of Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies held at Senate House! These are on display at the occasion of the Shakespearean anniversary, in addition to this special issue by the IASEMS: The First Folio at 400.

But did you hear there was a 5th Folio? Check out the article by Eric Rasmussen and Michael Stapleton.

For the special issue: iasems.org/?page_id=958

[via Rory Loughnane]

20/10/2023

To end the week, we wanted to share with you the rest of our term card! 🗓️

We are delighted to be able to showcase the variety of talents and experts in pre-modern subjects at University of Kent - School of History and Kentiquity: Classics & Archaeology at Kent this term.

For more info: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/memsnews/calendar-of-events/

13/10/2023

Next week, we are pleased to welcome Dr Katy Mortimer who has just joined Canterbury Christ Church University, UK (our colleagues down the hill) this year. If you are interested in the , this is for you!

📜 Medieval historical writing and the third crusade: a question of failure?
📆 Thur 19 Oct, 5pm, DLT1 and on zoom via linktr.ee/MEMS_UniKent

University of Kent - School of History

13/10/2023

Thank you for such fantastic talks Peter Stiffel, Dr Cassandra Harrington, and Lucy Splarn!

We hope you had a stimulating evening while listening to our guest speakers. We are so proud of what they have accomplished. It was a delight to see again Cassandra now as Dr Harrington! Congratulations again 🎉

Reminder that there is currently a scholarship open to work with Dr Emily Guerry if you are interested in art history, death and judgement.

By the way, can you spot who is on Peter’s T-Shirt? 👀

📷: L. Farrell & J. L. Becker